Killing of Palestinian farmer adds to growing concerns over settler violence in West Bank
Ramallah — Bilal Saleh was collecting olives with his family on Oct. 28 from his ancestral grove in the West Bank when he was confronted by Israeli settlers.
Saleh's olive grove is surrounded by Israeli settlements considered illegal under international law for being built on land that Palestinians claim for their own independent state.
Footage obtained by CBS News shows four Israeli settlers wearing white approaching Saleh's land, one with a weapon slung across his shoulder. In the video, a shot rings out, and moments later relatives find Saleh lying dead on the ground. He was buried on the same day.
His grieving widow, Ikhlas, spoke to CBS News this week at the family's home.
"He was taken from his children," Ikhlas said. "What will our children understand after seeing their father murdered on his land."
Since the brutal attack against Israel by Hamas militants on Oct. 7, violence against Palestinians living in the Israeli-occupied West Bank has escalated, with at least 121 people killed, according to the latest numbers from the United Nations.
At least eight of those killings were committed by settlers, according to the U.N. Human rights activists say those settlers are well-armed, well-trained, and are increasingly encroaching on Palestinian land.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on a trip to Israel Friday, told reporters that he addressed the violence against Palestinians in the West Bank with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Blinken noted in his meeting with Netanyahu that he "emphasized that the protection of civilians must take place not just in Gaza, but also in the West Bank, where incitement and extremist violence against Palestinians must be stopped and perpetrators held accountable."
Aryeh King, Jerusalem's deputy mayor and a West Bank settler, alleges that Saleh was a terrorist and the shooter acted in self-defense.
"He did exactly the right thing, that I would do the same," King told CBS News.
When told Saleh was a farmer, King responded, "These farmers, this is not a human being."
A video, provided by the lawyer of the suspect in Saleh's killing, shows two men, one throwing stones, at the same location as the shooting. However, Saleh is not seen in the clip.
Saleh's widow told Palestinian media that the settlers raised a weapon, so he grabbed a stone and threw it at them in self-defense.
"We were on our land picking olives," Ikhlas said when asked about the allegations from the suspect's attorney. "...They have their guns, we had nothing to protect ourselves."
The suspect's attorney also accuses Saleh of supporting Hamas, a claim Saleh's widow has firmly denied. The suspect was initially arrested, but has since been released from custody while the investigation continues.